Ringmærkningen: Nettene var så godt som stivfrosne, men med nød og næppe fik vi åbnet alt på nær 3 net.

Først ved 9 runden var nettene tøet op, så der var en del tomme runder. Men på trods af det blev 9 fugle fanget hvoraf de 7 var nye.

Dagens ringmærkning og kontroller/Todays ringing and recaptures:

Jernspurv/Dunnock 1(0)

Rødhals/Robin 1(1)

Blåmejse/Blue tit 3(1)

Bogfinke/Chaffinch 1(0)

Grønirisk/Greenfinch 1(0)

Total 7(2)

Trækket på Odden: Another cold night leading to a cold and frozen morning, but the absence of clouds allowed us to enjoy some morning stars, a beautiful moonset and an as beautiful sunrise. Even if the wind was a bit more present than the previous days, we decided to try a more exposed monitoring spot. We hadn’t visited it yet this season, so we hoped we could appreciate a new point of view on the landscape. Unfortunately the wind got colder and colder, convincing us to eventually move a few meters away where the wind was less present.

Gedser Odde migration monitoring spot in the frosty morning. You can see that the frost on the grass is slowly melted by the sun. Picture by Cyann Ménard. 

As yesterday, the morning was fairly quiet migration-wise. More than half of the 1 134 individuals observed were the Eiders (Ederfugl) who are definitely going the right way now. On the other hand, the Mergansers (Toppet skallesluger) are eventually about to tip the balance, as almost as many individuals are heading in both directions. We noticed that the Cormorants (Skarv) were still hesitant to conquer back the eagle’s block of concrete, and preferred using the other surrounding blocks. It took another few hours before the bravest among them decided to land back on it.

Afternoon adventures: As the weather was nice, we decided to take advantage of it and went on a little trip to Bøtø this afternoon. On the top of the tower, squeezed between the telescopes, we admired Teals (Krikand), Shovelers (Skeand), Lapwings (Vibe) and Wigeons (Pibeand) among the thousands of Barnacle geese (Bramgås) and White-fronted geese (Blisgås) feeding or resting in the marshes. Stressed by the potential presence of the top predator, the White-tailed Eagle (Havørn), they repeatedly treated us to the magnificent spectacle of their sudden and simultaneous flight. We saw four different individuals of the aforementioned top predator, either arguing other a landing pole or enjoying the comfort of their new nest. After spending some time on the tower, we moved to another spot to get a closer look at the ducks and the grebes. In addition to the numerous Pintail ducks (Spidsand) (to name but a few) feeding in the pond, and the young white-tailed eagle chilling on a pole, we also saw a female-type Hen Harrier (Blå kærhøg) in the distance. Unfortunately, no fish were found in the canal between the fields, but despite this minor inconvenience it was definitively a lovely day to enjoy the sun and the birds around.

A small part of the Barnacle geese flock flying away from the White-tailed eagle at Bøtø. Picture by Cyann Ménard.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Sjoerd van Baal, Henrik Jørgensen, Ole Friis Larsen.